Featured Broker Story
When You Have a Claim, Sometimes You Need A Little Extra Help
One afternoon I received a call from one of my commercial clients asking how a Commercial Liability policy should respond to a claim. My client’s retired father-in-law, a former business owner, was being brought into a liability claim for some work he’d done while his business was in operation. The claim had been filed with two different insurance companies because the business changed insurers while in operation. Both insurance companies denied the claim because they both thought the other insurance company should pay. It was at a stalemate, and nobody would provide any help to my client’s father-in-law.
Dawson & Keenan had never been the broker for my client’s father-in-law. However, the situation needed to be addressed by someone who understood insurance. I asked for the old policies and copies of the correspondence. After reviewing the information it became clear that there was coverage in place, and the two insurers needed to get together to decide who should be defending this man that had done nothing wrong.
I was able to contact the two adjusters, explain the situation and eventually get them to discuss the claim. Clearly, this elderly gentleman should not have been left to deal with this situation. Even though his liability coverage was valid for claims that took place while he was in business, his situation was now complicated by the fact that he’d sold his business and no longer needed to carry insurance.
There was more information that went back and forth, but I'm glad to say that the responsible insurer came to the table, and a retired business owner can once again sleep at night as his claim has been dealt with and settled!
Graham Lidstone, CAIB, CIP
Vice President
T. 705.256.4079
graham@dawsonkeenan.com